Muscogee DA arrested after indictment filed alleging misconduct while in office
Update: Mark Jones bonded out of the Muscogee County jail just before 7 p.m. Tuesday evening. Read this story for more.
Original story: Authorities jailed Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Mark Jones on Tuesday following an indictment alleging misconduct while in office.
Sheriff Greg Countryman confirmed to the Ledger-Enquirer that Jones was arrested and booked into the Muscogee County Jail on Tuesday. He’s being held on a $10,000 bond and faces nine charges in the case.
Attempts to contact Jones Tuesday were unsuccessful. A representative for the District Attorney’s office told the L-E that Jones was “unavailable” and that the office had no comment regarding Jones’ indictment.
His attorney, Christopher Breault, told the L-E around 4:30 p.m. that he was heading to the jail to meet Jones.
Said Breault: “I don’t believe in a case like this without him being allowed to testify in front of the grand jury ... the law is what it is so that you cannot get away so easily with political prosecutions. ... But this would be the third case that is a fake, made-up case that they brought.”
The indictment alleges several instances of misconduct, including an attempt to persuade Cpl. Sherman Hayes’ testimony in State of Georgia v. Elijah Farral, a case stemming from a February 2021 shooting where police said 20-year-old Farral and two friends were dancing around with a handgun before Farral decided he would use it to “scare” Sara Holtrop, who had fallen asleep face-down on a couch.
The indictment also alleges that Jones offered to give Chief Assistant District Attorney Sheneka Jones and Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Schwartz $1,000 each to obtain murder convictions in cases. Those cases are not specified in the court document.
Jones’ second influencing witness charge stems from allegedly using a “threat and (engaging) in misleading conduct” to “influence and prevent the testimony” of Chris Bailey.
This story was originally published September 7, 2021 at 4:50 PM.